Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-12-05
kRRESTiRG WEAK WOMEN.

hRnES tlNG WEAK WUMkk.
Judge Pennington elves his side of the
Case Through a Letter to the City
MarshaA.
Judge Pennington, in reply to a re-.
portoriel request to.dayfor his version oil
the affair which has resulted in msnda
mus proceedings against him, pulled
forth from the files of his office a letter
addressed to the city marshal, which he
said contained the points in the case and
that he had nothing TO say beyond wha.
was in that communication. The letter
reads as follows:
Office of City Justice, Yankton, d. T.
Nov. 20 1SS7-Patrick Brennan, Esq.
City Marshal, Yankton, d. L. Sir: The
complaints you placed in my hands on
the 22nd, Inst. and in which cases, you
tell me, his honor, the mayer, insists
that warrants be issued, have had due
consideration, and in my judicial discre.
tion | decline to issue warrants for the
arreat of LnuraLeonard and Amy Leslie,
the parties complained of for being in:
mates OF houses of i'll fame. etc.
l have maturely considered the subject
and conferred fully with the city at
forney, who conours with me that
these periodical arrests and fines
without any repressive or reiorma-
tory results can only be construed
in the light OF levying tribute on the
vice for the benefit OF. the court and it's
officers, and should be discouraged, In
fact, if it be persisted in for the pur-
poses OF tribute only, 1t becomes of itself
q crime.
If you and other good people OF Yank-
ton desire to close the houses OF ill-fame
and suppress the vice, l would respect
fully refer you to the YAnkton county
grand Jury, which will be in session next
week. and to the district court, q court
OF much larger Jurisdiction and which
court can effectualiy close the public
housed by the exercise of its powers,
Jury of the county, If it SO choose. But
even the district court would not have
the power, on mere complaint, to have
the lewd women arrested every one or
two months and impose o fine, simply
for the purpose OF revenue, and permit
them to return to their YocatIon, and I
am sure that such power would not be
exercised by that court even if it existed.
Farther, l find on examination of the
records of the city court, That these
identical persons have been arrested and
fined three times since June last, and
yet while all penal laws ere made to
suppress cr.me and reform criminals,
according to the declarations OF
Your complaint, they are
still quietly pursuing their vocation; and
you being the complainant in each Of
the previous GASES, now make o fourth
complaint against the same persons
within . period of a little over five
mcaths that they may be again fined
end turned loose, when it is shown that
no vice has been suppressed or reforma-
ton effected by previous proceedings
and il now taken up and fined again the
public could come to no other conclu-
sion than that you and / were simply
doing it to share in the profits OF their
shame. For taese reasons / decline TO
issue the warrants and will be no party
to such q proceeding.
The city council has had
this matter under consideration for
some time. without seeming to have
made much progress. and rs tha grand
jury and the district court is the only
channel throgh which those public houses
can be closed and the vice suppressed, I
respectfully refer you and them to take
that course. This court is one of very
limited Jurisdiction and totally incom-
petent to the suppression OF q vice that
has puzzled the wisdom OF the law.
makers and the courts in all ages and
countries. and to continue to punish the
victims without reforming them would
be inhumsn and to extort money from
them for purposes OF gain would be In
famous. Respectfully
john l.. PENNINGTON. City Justice.
In addition Judge Pennington said he
would like TO Ehow the public where the
money went which was collected from
this class of Law breakers. He took the
record OF his Office prior to his own in
oumbenoy and extracted therefrom the
following figures, covering transactions
between June and September the figures
representing the amounts collected in
fines from prostitutes:
Il mt "a =,